My Guardian Angel

Translated into 5 languages: English, Spanish, Italian, Portugese, German, French

Written and Illustrated by Sharon Sofia Fletter

Hardbound, large format

$17.95

Share this books with a young child. Read slowly, let the images on the page rest there for the child to explore. Don't explain -- your child will recognize what is true without our adult words. As you read the simple text and sit with your child or children, I feel certain you will feel a joyous warmth flow between you and enfold you.

Sharon Sofia Fletter has created a beautiful book, filled will love and reassurance -- something we all need and our children will love and thrive upon. Do enjoy!

I recommend My Guardian Angel and encourage you to enjoy this time of closeness with your child, allowing it to be a blessing for you both!

Rahima Baldwin Dancy
Author: You Are Your Child's First Teacher

El Conejito Andarín
The Runaway Rabbit - Spanish Language

Margaret Wise Brown

Softbound

$6.99

Here is the same, dear story with the same heartwarming illustrations - told this time in Spanish. The little rabbit asks his mother, "What would you do if I ran away to ....?" And each time, the mother rabbit tells her little one that she would do whatever she must to find her dear child.

This is one of my favorite books - it's message of love is just so very sweet.

Corduroy

Don Freeman

Softbound

$6.99

Can be paired with Spanish Language Edition, below

This is one of the all-time warmest stories every written for children - one that still catches my heart strings even though it has been years since my children and I basked in its glow.

Lisa is a girl who lives with her mother in a big-city apartment. One day while she and her mother are shopping in a big department store, she spots Corduroy, the cuddliest of stuffed bears, on a shelf and falls in love with him. Her mother can't afford to get him for Lisa just then, so she bids a sad farewell to her dear Corduroy. Corduroy is sad too, and decides to go on an after-hours hunt through the department store in search of a button to replace the one missing on his overalls. His adventures and Lisa's return will captivate you and your children. And, if you're anything like me, they'll live in your heart a long, long time.

Corduroy - Spanish Language Edition

Don Freeman

Softbound

$6.99

Identical to Corduroy, above, but with text in Spanish.

Der Keimling
(The Seedling)

Story and illustrations by Daniel C Bryon

Really beautiful watercolor illustrations

German language only - no glossary or English translation

Softbound

$12.95

This nursery story in German follows a seed from the moment the spring sunshine draws it out until its flower blooms on a warm summer day. It also makes an excellent first book to read in German as a second language. The reading level is middle- to advanced beginner.

Die Wichtelmänner
(The Elves and the Shoemaker)

A Grimm's Fairy Tale

German language only - no glossary or English translation

Beautiful watercolor illustrations by Caroline Mason

Softbound

$7.95

Die Wichtelmänner is an enticing way to develop your student(s) enthusiasm for reading in German as a foreign language. "The Elves and the Shoemaker" is one of the best-known fairy tales, so the foundation of recognition will already be laid for most young readers. And the charming size and beautiful illustration of this small storybook will add to student's excitement of discovering he or she can read something "real" in a new language. Reading level is early intermediate.

The Lonely Lake
Der Einsame See

Arnold Zimmermann

An English/German Dual Language Story of the Seasons in the North Country

Charming pen and ink drawings by the author

Softbound

$12.00

Arnold Zimmermann was not only the husband of master knitter Elizabeth Zimmermann, he was a wonderful teller of stories and lover of nature. His many children's books delighted our own children years ago -- it's a warm pleasure to be able to offer them to a new generation of young people.

The Lonely Lake/Der Einsame See is much more than an interesting way to experience English and German together. It is a sensitive and engaging observation of the life that guides and animates Nature through all the seasons. With simple yet evocative prose, Zimmermann shares with us the events large and small as they occur among nature's inhabitants and guests at the lonely lake. What he has accomplished in this gentle and warm telling is reminiscent of the Burgess Nature Stories, but there is something in Zimmermann's tale that I have always missed in Burgess -- a real sense for the Love that underlies all Life; a sense of the sheer Majesty of the natural world.

This is a book that would work equally well as a nature study or a German text -- what a lovely way to integrate the two!

For those teaching German (or wanting to learn it!), I would place the prose at an 'early intermediate' level. Here's a sample, first in English and then in German to help you judge for yourself:

Toward evening, which came early now, the storm abated. The dark clouds slid down the horizon and let the stars come out.

A Brightness appeared behind the steep hill in the North and spread upward, covering half the dome of the night sky. and now it condensed into green-golden curtains which silently folded and unfolded, sending strong beams of white light to the very top of the sky.

The northern lights were playing their silent, intricate ballet which is a a prelude to the dance of the little spirits of the North that sweeps over hills and woods and streams and lakes.

* * *

Gegen Abend, der jetzt frueh kam, liess der Sturm nach, die dunklen Wolken glitten ueber den Horizont hinunter und liessen die Sterne erscheinen.

Eine Helligkeit erschien hinter dem steilen Huegel im Norden und erstreckte sich aufwaerts ueber die Haelfte des naechtlichen Himmelsdomes.

Und nun verdichtete sich diese Helligkeit in gruen-goldene Vorhaenge die sich schweigend falteten und wieder entfalteten. Intensive Strahlenbuendel weissen Lichtes schossen bis zum Himmelsdach.

Die Nordlichter brachten ihr stummes, durchwobenes Ballet zur Schau, das Vorspiel zum Tanz der kleinen Geister des Nordens ist, der ueber Huegel und Wald und Fluss und See fegt.

Arnold Zimmerman is also the author of The Tale of Alain.

Zusammen lesen
An intermediate German reader

Roswitha Graf

Softbound

$25.95

Zusammen lesen is a beautifully illustrated reader for German students who are at an intermediate level or above. Using seasonal themes, it offers practice with written poetry, stories and dialogue.

Because it is written entirely in German, much of which uses poetic constructions, it will be essential that the teacher be fluent. That aside, this is a beautiful book which should elicit a great enthusiasm on the part of the students who are fortunate enough to study from it.

Sapo y Sepo son amigos
(Frog and Toad are Friends)

Arnold Lobel

Spanish language only - no glossary or English translation

Softbound

$8.95

This very first Frog and Toad books is as dear in Spanish as it is in the original English -- and a wonderful way to encourage reading in Spanish as a foreign language. As with Días con Sapo y Sepo, the comprehension level will be early intermediate to intermediate. You'll find the English language original, Frog and Toad are Friends, by clicking here.

Whether they're telling stories, taking walks, or writing letters, Frog and Toad always help each other out, just like all best friends. There are five great stories about their adventures in this book

Días con Sapo y Sepo
(Days with Frog and Toad)

Arnold Lobel

Spanish language only - no glossary or English translations

Softbound

$8.95

A Spanish language translation of Arnold Lobel's beloved English language reader for grades 1-3. Charming full-color illustrations throughout grace this sweet book. If you're looking for a way to have your student(s) or child(ren) begin to read in Spanish as a second lanaguge, this is a lovely choice. Most children will have already met Frog and Toad when they learned to read in children - they'll remember the stories they loved and delight in the work of decoding them in the new language. Spanish level would be early intermediate to intermediate. The original English language Days with Frog and Toad can be found by clicking here.

Good friends like Frog and Toad enjoy spending their days together. They fly kites, clebrate Toad's birthday, and share the shivers when one of them tells a scary story. Here are five funny stories that celebrate friendship all day, every day.

Sapo y Sepo, inseparables
(Frog and Toad Together)

Arnold Lobel

Softbound

$8.95

Frog and Toad just translate so well into Spanish! Their sweetness and charm flows beautifully into the language that gave the world "sympatico." As with the other Sapo y Sepo books, Sapo y Sepo, inseparables will give your child or student a sweet introduction to early intermediate or intermediate level Spanish.

Frog and Toad are great friends who are always together -- there isn't a day that goes by when they don't see each otehr. Whether they are out riding a bike or working in the garden, all their adventures happen hand in hand.

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun
La mujer que brillaba aún más que el sol

A duel language book
From a poem by Alejandro Cruz Martinez

$7.95

The Woman Who Outshone the Sun is a Mexican legend of Lucia Zenteno, a beautiful woman who arrives in a mountain village with an iguana at her side and hair so glorious it outshines the sun. How the villagers react to her extraordinary presence - and how she responds to them - form this story, beautifully retold in both English and Spanish. For reading to children in their mother tongue, ages 4-5 and up. For children to practice English or Spanish as a second language, at the end of the first year of instruction to the middle of the second year.

The Story of Colors
La Historia de los Colores
a folktale in both English and Spanish from the jungles of Chiapas

Subcomandante Marcos

Illustrated by
Comitila Domínguiz

$8.95
Softbound

Once upon a time, of course, the world was black and white with gray in between. Black and white and gray? This understandably bored and angered the gods, so they went looking for other colors to brighten the world for the people. How the gods found all the colors in the world is told in melodic Spanish and warm English, accompanied by gloriously vivid paintings. This story is a great find and will be loved by children ages 3 and up. The Spanish is complex enough to engage upper grades English speakers in a translation journey of epic proportions - some will love the challenge. For Spanish speakers, the English is at a mid-grades reading level.

A note here: I thought for a long time before including this wonderful folktale in our book shop. Not because of the folktale - it well deserves any honors we can think to heap upon it - but because it is told by the leader of the Zapatista revolutionary movement and published by the movement's supporters who make it clear on the dust jacket that they consider this civil war to be a manifestation of great goodness. I am not of the opinion that any violent revolution has ever moved the world forward very far. You may or may not think differently. Should you share my view, I would suggest simply removing the dust jacket and delighting in a very well-told version of one of the worlds best folktales.

Grandma Fina and Her Wonderful Umbrellas
La Abuelita Fina y sus sombrillas maravillosas

Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Illustrated by Geronimo Garcia

Softbound

$7.95

Grandma Fina is one of those people blessed with eyes that see only what is wonderful - including the torn and tattered yellow umbrella she uses to shade herself from the sun. As she walks down the street, she greets her children and grandchildren and neighbors, who always love to stop and chat with her. But everyone of them secretly thinks that Grandma Fina's yellow umbrella is not wonderful and needs to be replaced. On her birthday, she receives a new umbrella from each of them - what will she do with so many umbrellas? The answer is a warm and joyous delight, sure to be loved in your child's mother-tongue by anyone over 4. As an early reader in Spanish as a second language, it is suitable for the second or third year. As an early reader in English as a second language, it is appropriate for the third year. A great story whenever it is read!

Haiku Picturebook for Children

Text by Keisuke Nishimoto

Illustrated by Kozo Shimizu

$14.95
Hardbound

The haiku in this book are chosen from the gifts Japan's most honored haiku masters - Buson, Issa, Basho and others. They are beautiful, nearly perfect little pictures to heighten our awareness of the world, of life. The accompanying watercolor illustrations in my mind set just the right tone, evoke just the right feeling to go with the poems. This book will remain an exquisite gift to any child fortunate enough to be offered a copy. Wonderful for any age after 5. (Note to purists: the translations are not always in the 5-7-5 form, but they speak with a graceful simplicity that honors the intent of the original.)